By Inusa Ndahi, Maiduguri
Three soldiers were killed and 10 others injured while repelling an ambush on their convoy by the Islamic State of the West African Province, ISWAP, terrorists in the North-East of Abadam in Borno State on Sunday, May 14, 2023.
It was gathered that the troops, who were part of clearance operation against the terror group comprising of Sector 3 and Sector 4 Multi-National Joint Task Force, MNJTF, came under attack by a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device, VBIED, while advancing towards ISWAP camp in Tunbum Reza.
Sources told our correspondent in Maiduguri on Monday morning, which was corroborated by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in the Lake Chad region that the joint troops effectively responded with superior firepower and successfully fought off the ambush.
The sources said that one of the VBIED hit a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, MRAPV, belonging to Nigérienne Republic troops of Sector 4 MNJTF, while the other hit a hilux truck.
The sources said that the terrorists also suffered significant casualties, although the exact number is yet to be determined.
The sources said, “This attack comes in less than 24 hours after the troops thwarted a similar attack in Arege, resulting in the killing of 10 ISWAP terrorists and the destruction of their three vehicles.
“The ISWAP terrorists made an audacious attempt to infiltrate the advancing troops’ harbor, using a VBIED, but was instantly naturalized.”
The wounded personnel were evacuated for treatment.
The ongoing operation by troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, nicknamed Operation HARBIN ZUMA, was designed to clear the terrorists’ hideouts and restore total sanity in the Lake Chad region
ISWAP on the other hand resorted to desperate, but extreme measures to fight back against the intrusion of their enclaves by the military through heightenening series of Person-Borne Improvised Explosive Device, PBIED, and Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explpsive Device, VBIED attacks.
